Billal Brahimi found the net twice while Dante also scored as Nice registered a fifth win in six games under new coach Didier Digard with a 3-0 home victory over struggling Ajaccio at the Allianz Riviera on Friday.
THE MATCH
Digard had only failed to win one of the five league games he had taken charge of since replacing Lucien Favre in early January, and the former PSG midfielder had seen his team take apart a good Marseille team at the Orange Vélodrome on Sunday; the visit of Ajaccio, who had avoided defeat only once in their last six and kicked off fourth from bottom of the table, was therefore hardly a terrifying prospect.
Any lingering fears were soon dispelled. With just three minutes on the clock, Dante surged into the box and the Nice captain met Badredine Bouanani's cross to fire home the opener (3') — at 39 years and 115 days, the former Brazil international defender is the oldest player to score in Europe's top five leagues this season.
It was a third assist of the year for Bouanani, who only turned 18 in December, and the teenager then saw an attempted cross drift and force Ajaccio goalkeeper Benjamin Leroy to palm the ball onto his own crossbar (39').
While Nice rely largely on youth — Dante aside — Ajaccio's team became the first this season to pass the 29-year mark for average age at kick-off, and while they kept Nice at arm's length for much of the first and early part of the second half, they never really had the verve required to create a scoring chance as the hosts registered a comfortable fourth clean sheet in five games.
Instead, Digard replaced Bouanani with Brahimi, and he lit up the game. Just four minutes after coming off the bench, the former Middlesbrough FC youth academy player was picked out wonderfully by another substitute Sofiane Diop. Brahimi's superb strike was comfortably too good for Leroy (70').
An Ajaccio sub, Ruan Levine, finally forced a save from Kasper Schmeichel in the home goal (86') before Brahimi capped another good night for Nice: the Algeria international curled a magnificent effort into the top left-hand corner of Leroy's goal (90') to leave Digard's men in seventh place, just three points off the top five and a European qualifying place, ahead of the remainder of the Round 23 action.
THE PLAYER: Billal Brahimi
His fantastic goal at the Vélodrome was clearly just the prelude to even better things as the former Angers man became the first Ligue 1 player to score twice from outside the box after coming off the bench since Franck Tabanou with Toulouse in April 2010. His pace and trickery on the ball — as well as his new-found nose for goal — make him the ideal impact sub.
THE STAT: 16
Digard has registered 16 points in his first six Ligue 1 Uber Eats games. Only Thomas Tuchel (18 points with Paris) has done better among French top-flight coaches in the 21st century.
